Tracking the Ozone Hole
Ozone gas (O3) in the upper atmosphere shields Earth from the Sun's dangerous ultraviolet radiation. Since the early 1980s, scientists have been aware that manmade chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) destroy atmospheric ozone worldwide. The greatest losses have occurred at the poles; the Antarctic ozone "hole" is most extreme in October.
To learn more about the ozone hole and what causes it, explore the animation
below, which shows ozone measurements across the globe obtained by NASA's
Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument. Ozone levels are shown in
measurements of dobson units; the "hole" represents ozone levels lower than
220 dobson units.
Satellites provide scientists with a picture of what's happening daily over the entire Earth. The United States satellite measurement program for ozone, run jointly by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has measured ozone distribution by season, latitude, and longitude since 1978.
Satellites provide scientists with a picture of what's happening daily over the entire Earth. The United States satellite measurement program for ozone, run jointly by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has measured ozone distribution by season, latitude, and longitude since 1978.